Jason Hite

Jason Hite to perform live-sculpting demo at Comic Fest!

Jason Hite will be returning to the Fest this year to conduct a teaching demo on sculpting. He will sculpt a half-face Halloween mask and go through the process of explaining materials, blocking, refining, detailing, and then the final finishing of the mask sculpt. He is also currently underway on his second stop-motion animated short, called VESSEL. If we’re lucky, maybe he’ll have some footage to show us by the time of the Fest.

Here is Jason in his own words:

There are so many things I see, feel, and think about that push me to make the odd, strange things that I make. A major theme I subsist from is technology and machines. We live in a world full of so much potential for great technological success, as well as, disastrous failure. Our reliance on machines for everyday life is delicate and flawed. Most of us don’t even realize this until something is broken or down. Ever lose the Internet for a day or two at home? I feel a strange void where it used to be whenever that happens, like a part of me is missing. Blast my addiction! I constantly ask myself, what technology will be like 20-50 years from now? These thoughts and questions usually bring my attention to sculpture.

I usually start a piece by doing quick sketches, and (or), surf the web for reference. These sketches and printouts end up on a foam core board and become the raw inspiration for my sculptures. I often create a naked figure in soft clay like Super Sculpey, mold it, cast one piece, and then add more detail to it with hard clay like Castaline. Once I have a figure, I can’t help but want to give it a home. Found objects play a large part in this, namely tubing. PVC, corrugated, clear, ABS, and brass are some of the parts I use as the building blocks of my structures. Lighting is also an essential part of my work. Weaving lights into the sculpture is the key to bringing my little environments to life.

What other’s have said about Jason’s work:

It is always exciting to see the latest updates from within Jason Hite’s studio. Combining tech, sci-fi and horror iconography and an incredibly skilled modelling ability Jason conjures up a universe of wonderfully bizarre and memorable characters. Demonstrating a heightened level of technical craft, Jason continues to produce work that is both fascinating and inspirational. I look forward to each new update as I have no doubt that every new piece that Jason shares with us will be evermore intriguing.

-Richard Taylor, Weta Workshop

Jason Andrew Hite is one of my favorite contemporary sculptors. His mixed media work is as entertaining as it is disturbing. His dark portrayal of a technological future run amok can only be described as visionary.

-Chet Zar

Jason Hite has taken the world of Biomechanics and pushed it into a whole new level of wild imagination and sophistication.

-Steve Wang

A major theme in Jason Hite’s work is the fusing of the human form with technology and machines. Between his sculpting and use of PVC, brass tubing, wires and unique lighting elements, Jason’s work takes on a disturbing and at the same time mesmerizing vision of what the future might hold.

Please note: While some of the folks who are putting together the San Diego Comic Fest were Comic-Con co-founders and committee members in years past, this event is not affiliated with Comic-Con International.